Being a co-host of two podcasts isn’t as daunting as one would think. For Legal Mastermind Podcast, I leave most of the talking to the guest. SEO is Dead and Other Lies, which has been around for a couple years now, does require some thorough research and prep, since we never want to cover the same ground twice, but I’ve loved seeing how much it has benefited our listeners over the years.
Since I don’t have to pick between guests and podcasts that were my own topics, I can be a harsher critic with which ones make my very select list of 5 for 2020.
The SEO Guide for Beginners Part 1: Content
https://seoisdeadandotherlies.podbean.com/e/episode-55-the-seo-guide-for-beginners-part-1/
This podcast was a part of a 4-part series (content, on-page, link building, and introduction), but the content episode ended up being a great pillar for the entire set of podcasts. There are so many ways to look at what digital content is (blogs, articles, pages, social posts, guides, etc.) and how it can be created (DIY, transcription, freelancer, content agency, a dedicated writer, old content from an expired domain, etc.) that it’s hard to even know where to start. This podcast gives you insight on what the most important content for your website is and the best approach to creating the content based on your time and resources.
Content has always been the foundation for online visibility for any business. We learned, especially in 2020, that on-page SEO can have a dramatic impact on keyword positioning, and we’ve always known that the authority from links is the most important factor in ranking. Still, there’s no sense in venturing to improve either of these things unless your content is creative, unique, and powerful.
I included this podcast because it kicked off our most popular and downloaded series with an actionable, incremental look at how involved good content can get, with steps that were clear and concise enough to help any DIY’er out there feel confident in moving through the process on their own.
How to Start a Career in SEO
https://seoisdeadandotherlies.podbean.com/e/episode-65-how-to-start-a-career-in-seo/
Ever wonder what the timeline of a solid SEO looks like? Formal education is still scrambling to create cohesive curriculum on best practices and what really works. The vast majority of revered SEOs do not have degrees and certificates from a university or trade school. Most up to this point have kind of fallen into it (like me) and then see how it syncs with many of the things they are looking for in their career, like being creative, analytical, and risk-taking all at once.
This podcast is interesting for someone that not only wants to work in the SEO world but also learn in it.
I included this podcast because sometimes it’s nice to reminisce about the “humble beginnings” that were rife with far more failures than successes. You can hear about my long journey, which I wouldn’t change for anything, from intern to eventually owning an agency that has gone through many dynamic phases of the business lifecycle.
20 Reasons Why Your Website Doesn’t Rank Well in 2020
This topic was a combination of two blogs I had compiled on the Market My Market website, 10 Reasons Your On-Page Content Isn’t Working and 10 Types of Content You Could Execute Right Now. This is a jam-packed podcast that helps anyone troubleshoot their content that may not be performing to their expectations and offers best practices for creating great content that’ll work from the get-go.
I enjoyed this podcast because of the fact that 20 transparent reasons, ranging from simple to complex, were summarized in under an hour. This information can be used as a checklist for understanding why your website isn’t getting the rankings you’ve been working hard for.
Content Loops and User-Generated Content with Nick Friis
https://seoisdeadandotherlies.podbean.com/e/episode-69-content-loops-and-user-generated-content/
One of the few guests on the podcast, Nick was interesting to talk with because although the topic of conversation wasn’t necessarily groundbreaking, its continued development and systematic implementation certainly was. As I personally know, UGC (user generated content) is a huge opportunity in the world of SEO and content marketing for getting quality content on your website with little to no effort. Think of platforms like Quora and Reddit and other message boards/forums. When the topics are developed on a platform like this from content others have created, you reap the benefits when search results show your website in the results for other content people have created. This is how Avvo successfully got plenty of qualified organic traffic for some time.
The content loop is another concept, likely even more interesting. Content as a “loop” would require a continuous process of generating more and more content on your own. The example used was LinkedIn—viewing someone’s profile requires that you create your own profile, thus taking the time to fill out your own profile with information and content. When someone eventually searches your name, you now have a likelihood of appearing on LinkedIn, thus potentially starting the cycle all over again.
I chose this one because I’ve been aware of some of these concepts for the past decade, but I enjoyed seeing how some of these concepts can either follow next steps to bigger results or be leveraged for the benefit of numerous other things.
Testing Local SEO Ranking Factors with Kyle Roof
In one of the more recent podcasts, speaking with Kyle Roof reinvigorated my desire to be better at on-page SEO and take things to another level with my team. With the focus so frequently on link building and content marketing, sometimes we take only a cursory glance at on-page optimization. Meta information. H tags. Internal and external links. Keywords here and there. But what if there was a way to do this in a more analytical, mathematical way? This is what we discussed here.
There are SEOs that swear by the power of on-page as a concrete, verifiable component to high rankings. While this isn’t a contentious topic for SEOs, the amount of the impact certainly is.
I mention this podcast since my team has been happily using Page Optimizer Pro to help assist in more informed on-page updates. In an exceedingly rare instance of a product plug, feel free to check out their tool using this link. Additional information can be found in this doc too.
I’d only mention it if there were a fantastic promo code—and of course there is, for 50% off: POP2020.
Both podcasts provide insightful discussion about SEO marketing. For more engaging topics about growing your law firm organically, check out Legal Mastermind Podcast. For more general information about marketing, you can’t go wrong with SEO is Dead and Other Lies.